The failure to do more with these bonds — only $5 million were authorized — is not a failure locally, but from a stimulus that never delivered fully on its promise.

Of course, some people were put to work and perhaps a deeper recession was averted — you can buy some good with $787 billion — but the slow recovery is a testament to the ineffectiveness of this spending.

If the stimulus had worked better, Jackson County would not be saying no to $23.5 million.